smartsciencecareer bloghttp://www.smartsciencecareer.com
Honest career advice for young scientists!Mon, 08 May 2017 10:13:44 +0000en-UShourly165909834Is it possible to be a parent and have a career in research?http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/family-career-research/
http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/family-career-research/#commentsTue, 11 Apr 2017 20:09:20 +0000http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/?p=2034Many young researchers struggle with their work-life balance. Especially for researchers with a family, it is challenging to divide their time and energy between home and work. The question “is it possible to be a parent and have a career in research?” keeps many researchers up at night. Guest post by Liesbet Peeters. Liesbet is a postdoctoral […]

]]>http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/family-career-research/feed/62034Should I publish negative results or does this ruin my career in science?http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/negative-results/
http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/negative-results/#commentsTue, 13 Dec 2016 15:20:07 +0000http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/?p=2002Young scientists often produce negative results. All experiments were done correctly – but there was no difference between test and control. They get conflicting advice from supervisors and ethicists. Some say that publishing negative results is a waste of resources and ruins their careers. Others say that ‘not publishing negative results is unethical’ and promotes […]

]]>http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/negative-results/feed/82002How to become a professor?http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/how-to-become-a-professor/
http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/how-to-become-a-professor/#commentsTue, 15 Sep 2015 15:48:18 +0000http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/?p=1632Being a professor is amazing: a lot of academic freedom to investigate and teach very interesting subjects and a considerable and secure salary until retirement. However, the way in which to obtain this position can be pretty hard and more than 90% of all PhD holders find a job *outside* of academia. If you want […]

]]>http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/how-to-become-a-professor/feed/5163210 simple strategies to increase the impact factor of your publicationhttp://www.smartsciencecareer.com/increase-the-impact-factor-of-your-publication/
http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/increase-the-impact-factor-of-your-publication/#commentsThu, 05 Mar 2015 12:03:45 +0000http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/?p=1406Impact factors are heavily criticized as measures of scientific quality. However, they still dominate every discussion about scientific excellence. They are still used to select candidates for positions as PhD student, postdoc and academic staff, to promote professors and to select grant proposals for funding. As a consequence, researchers tend to adapt their publication strategy […]

]]>http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/increase-the-impact-factor-of-your-publication/feed/71406What is the best publication strategy in science?http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/best-publication-strategy-in-science/
http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/best-publication-strategy-in-science/#commentsThu, 29 Jan 2015 23:16:55 +0000http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/?p=1226Young scientists often get conflicting advice on how they should publish. Every generation of young scientists has to address similar questions: Should I publish several smaller papers or should I focus on one big paper with a high impact factor? What is the effect of my publication strategy on my career and the possibility to […]

]]>http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/best-publication-strategy-in-science/feed/31226Why professors do not train you for the non-academic job market – and how to handle it!http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/non-academic-job-market/
http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/non-academic-job-market/#commentsThu, 15 Jan 2015 23:53:06 +0000http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/?p=1192About 97% of all young researchers find a job *outside* academia. However, most professors focus on academic success and scientific excellence. Some professors are afraid to transform young scientists into “slaves of the market”. Others simply do not feel qualified. Most universities invest a lot of money and efforts to train PhD students and postdocs […]

]]>http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/non-academic-job-market/feed/31192Should I become a long-term postdoc?http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/long-term-postdoc/
http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/long-term-postdoc/#commentsWed, 24 Dec 2014 08:45:25 +0000http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/?p=448When discussing career paths in life sciences with postdocs, we hear on a regular basis the wish to escape from the “rat race of the professors” by accepting a kind of long-term senior postdoc position in academia. The idea is to obtain a permanent position (and thus a safe job in economic turbulent times) which […]

]]>http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/long-term-postdoc/feed/4448Four myths about scientists that let you work too much!http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/work-too-much/
http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/work-too-much/#commentsWed, 10 Dec 2014 20:00:52 +0000http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/?p=1089For many researchers science is a passion and for some even a calling. However, the status of sciences as “something you do for passion” is often abused by supervisors and institutions to justify bad working conditions. Unveil some myths about ‘science as a job you should do for free’ – you may take them for […]

]]>http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/work-too-much/feed/131089Pressure or pleasure – what produces better science?http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/pressure-or-pleasure/
http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/pressure-or-pleasure/#commentsFri, 28 Nov 2014 12:49:43 +0000http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/?p=1052There is a huge body of scientific evidence that happy team members produce better results. However, the majority of PhD students and postdocs is stressed by peer pressure, high demands by their supervisors, potentially insufficient supervision and a high degree of uncertainty about their future career. Is it better to make them all happy? General happiness […]

]]>http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/pressure-or-pleasure/feed/141052The most intelligent strategy to get hired in sciencehttp://www.smartsciencecareer.com/get-hired-in-science/
http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/get-hired-in-science/#commentsThu, 13 Nov 2014 11:47:47 +0000http://www.smartsciencecareer.com/?p=1009Are you nervous not to find a job? Does the insecurity nearly kill you? Are you sending out hundreds of applications without success? Stop wasting your time and change your approach. Intelligent job search and application costs time and effort but has a much higher chance of success. Again, I received multiple applications of young […]